Exhibit Commemorating Utah Shakes' 50 Years Comes to USU

The Caine College of the Arts (CCA) at Utah State University presents “We are Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On,” an exhibition celebrating 50 years of the Utah Shakespeare Festival as seen through the eyes of its artists, audience members and community. On display Oct. 13-31 from 10-5 p.m. in the Tippetts Exhibition Hall in the Chase Fine Arts Center on USU’s Logan campus, the exhibit features photographs from years past and provides an educational history of the award-winning festival.

From its humble beginnings in 1961 to an internationally known professional theater company that received the 2000 Tony Award for “Outstanding Regional Theatre,” the Utah Shakespeare Festival has provided education, enrichment and entertainment for Utahns and thousands of visitors.

Leslie Brott, assistant professor in the CCA, has performed 15 seasons with the festival and says her work there help keep her acting skills sharp and reminds her of how difficult the skills are that her students are working to master.

“Part of the acting process is going through and sifting out what parts of your performance you don’t want to keep,” said Brott. “Because of their relative inexperience, students think they will get over the discomfort of creating art. Speaking from experience, I know you never get over the discomfort of creating art. However, your ability to bear the discomfort increases. And with enough experience, students can look to the time that they will have complete faith in their ability to craft a performance.”

Brott’s first season at the festival in Cedar City was in 1992 when she was fresh out of grad school.

“I loved playing Ruth in ‘Blithe Spirit’ by Noël Coward because it confirmed to me that playing a light comedienne, or the person who forwards a great deal of the action in the play, was a major league skill,” said Brott. “It required that you not get all the laughs during or the accolades at the end of the show, but still know the play couldn’t have moved forward without you.”

Jason Spelbring, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts in the CCA and actor in the Utah Shakespeare Festival, said the festival is home to an indoor theater and outdoor Elizabethan-style theater. The festival usually performs six shows per season, including three Shakespeare plays in the outdoor theater, one musical inside and two other plays inside. He has been instrumental in arranging auditions for the graduating CCA BFA actors with the casting team at the festival.

“The Utah Shakespeare Festival was the first time professionally that I felt like I was doing what I was trained to do and what I loved to do,” said Spelbring. “They put on beautiful, stunning productions.”

Spelbring also said the quality of work at the festival is top notch.

“The production quality all the way down to sets, lights and costumes is great,” said Spelbring. “They treat their company members really well.”

“We are Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On” opens Oct. 13 in the Tippetts Exhibit Hall located in the Chase Fine Arts Center on the USU Logan campus. The exhibit can be seen from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday until Oct. 31.

A reception marks the Logan run of the exhibition and is Oct. 16 from 5-7 p.m. in the Tippetts Exhibit Hall. The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the CCA Box Office in room 139-B of the Chase Fine Arts Center, call 435-797-8022 or see the college’s Production Services website.

Writer: Whitney Schulte, 435-797-9203, whitney.schulte@usu.edu

Contact: Denise Albiston, 435-797-1500, denise.albiston@usu.edu